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It can be a very long process, a few years or more, or it can be fairly quick, a few months. It all depends on your specific case. If you are still working without any major problems I would keep going, you might never reach disability.

I worked as long as I could, but I am now on disability through my employer. I have applied for Social Security Disability (SSDI) and I am waiting for the decision. One thing you should check into is if your employer has a long-term disability policy. Those policies tend to pay a lot more than SSDI, usually 60% to 66.6% of your salary, and can make living a lot easier. Let me know if you have any other questions as I an mew to it and still in it. Good luck and I hope you never need to use it.

My employer offered STD and LTD insurance automatically when I was hired. A lot of companies I've worked for in the past offered these programs as "extras". I never participated in the past, so I feel lucky that I was offered it as an employment perk. From my understanding, when you have MS it is just about impossible to get any kind of disability insurance on your own from a private company. You may want to check with your employer and see what programs they have available and if it's possible to enroll.

To answer your question, no, for most people it is a long and arduous process.

It only took me six months to get disability, but I had been sick for about 18 years before I even considered it. Unfortunately, I was only 40 y.o. at the time. . MS when just entering adulthood=stopping work earlier then I ever thought I would/could. The disease is an awful life-changer, and not necessarily for the better. Work validates most people, and when you're not working anymore you become just one more statistic of this disease.

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” Ernest HemingwayDiagnosed 1979

What was the process in getting LTD with your employer? What type of documents did you need? Any advise would be great.

Thanks

Well every place is going to be different, so you'll want to check with your benefits department to get specifics. At my job, in order to get on STD, you have to meet a minimum of days out before STD kicks in. I had to use 20 of my own sick and personal days before I could start to receive STD payments. Also, the insurance company (it will always be an insurance company your employer goes through) will require all kinds of medical documentation in order to determine disability. Your doctor will usually need to provide a return to work date or at least some kind of window.

STD where I work covers 100% of my salary and pays for all my benefits (medical, dental, pension, etc). After being on STD for 5 months, I'd then have to be transfer to LTD. This is the same kind of criteria as above as far as documentation and a doctor verifying an inability to work. LTD will only pay 66⅓% of my salary and will no longer contribute to my benefits. I would need to use COBRA and pay for my health insurance out of pocket at a cost of 102%.

LTD where I work doesn't usually go past 2 years. They will also want me to apply for SSDI as soon as possible. Also, any claims to my former job would be forfeit; if for any reason I was denied or I had to go back to work I would be unable to go back to my former position or even any position if none existed. Also, it uses up all of your FMLA. If you went back to work after being on either STD or LTD, you may find that you no longer have FMLA to fall back on should you need it that year.

It is not an easy process by any means. They really want you to jump through hoops in order to claim anything.